Kylie Lang: Adult crime, adult time not the answer, but this is

The LNP’s “adult crime, adult time” policy has triggered fierce debate, but hidden in the details is a more sound solution, writes Kylie Lang. VOTE IN OUR POLL

David Crisafulli is on a winning ticket with his “adult crime, adult time” plan, but I’m not convinced it’s the crackdown we need.

As shown by the huge response from Courier-Mail readers this week to the Opposition Leader’s youth justice reform plan, Queenslanders are aching for tougher measures after nine years of Labor.

We’re tired of seeing violent youths released on bail only to commit more crimes.

We’re sick of magistrates and judges letting them off lightly because they had “rough upbringings”.

And we’re well and truly over victims’ rights being ignored.

How many more Queenslanders must die or be traumatised by this runaway train of youth destruction?

Mr Crisafulli is spot on when he says the generation of untouchables must end.

But slapping young offenders with adult sentences does not tackle the root cause of the problem. Besides, history tells us the judiciary is unlikely to dish out maximum penalties, so I can’t see the threat of adult sentencing being a deterrent.

Coming in at the end with punitive measures does not address what’s happened at the beginning – and opportunities to arrest the descent into a life of crime are missed.

Disrupting the cycle of crime must start with families, because children are products of their environments.

We need to support parents to do their jobs properly, and for those who can’t or won’t be helped, our state-run institutions and services must be properly resourced to carry out best practice, not worst.

The Department of Child Safety is so stretched it is a misnomer.

In any number of cases we’ve reported on over the years, vulnerable kids have been shockingly let down.

Corrective Services too is flawed, to the extent that kids come out more damaged and dedicated to crime than when they went in. Another misnomer.

There is a dearth of foster carers, and on it goes.

One Courier-Mail reader commented this week: “Socialists pretend that child crime is complex, it’s not, these youth offenders need discipline and structure and if that has to be in an institutional form then let’s get them off the streets and into state care for their good and the community’s sanity.”

There is nothing socialist about realising that child crime IS complex.

Yes, young people need discipline and structure, but state care falls dismally short.

As Selena Walters, founder of the youth engagement service Fearless Towards Success, told The Courier-Mail: “In the last five years, the government spent $132 million on service providers, and they’re just rolling over contracts.

“I’ve lost count of the kids who are telling me they’re back in stolen cars the first night they’re out of detention.”

Child crime is complex because it involves myriad factors.

The first is the home environment, compounded by schooling and peers, access to employment, alcohol and drug abuse, social media, and the absence of mentors.

It’s easy for people to harp on about the good old days, when kids knew right from wrong because their parents showed them.

There are myriad complex factors behind this generational crisis.

And if kids fell foul of the law, parents sided with the police officers who brought their quivering offspring home.

We might like to recall a time when society was more cohesive – respect for other people and their property was a shared value, for example – but we have to deal with the present.

Individualism is rampant, and too many kids are growing up rudderless, with a moral compass that got lost in the wash.

Add to this the influx of people from countries with different social mores and who assimilate poorly into Australia, and the issue is exacerbated.

That’s not to say we accept the status quo – change is always possible – but we need a holistic approach.

A significant part of the LNP plan that has been somewhat lost in the hoo-ha over “adult crime, adult time” is the $175m investment in 12-month post-detention-release programs.

Mr Crisafulli says longer-termprograms will make sure young people are given an opportunity to turn their lives around.

Ms Walters agrees, which counts for a lot, since she’s at the coalface.

But she also says more needs to be done. Indeed.

With a well-resourced, multi-pronged attack that can be put into practice and achieve measurable outcomes, Queensland might stand a chance.

We need more than catchy slogans – and it’s about time someone in politics delivered.

Kylie Lang is an associate editor of The Courier-Mail

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Originally published as Kylie Lang: Adult crime, adult time not the answer, but this is